Improvement in double-trees



H. L. BOWEN.

Improvement in Doubletrees.

No. 132,048. Patented oct. 8,187.2..

NITED STATES PATENT EEIOE.

HOMEE L. BOWEN, OE BELVIDERE, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN DOUBLE-TREES.

Specication forming part of Letters Patent No. 132,048, datedOctober 8,1872.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HOMER L. BOWEN, of

Belvidere, county of Boone, State of Illinois,

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Eveners, of whichthe following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawing making part of this specification, inwhich- Figure l is a plan view of my improved evener, and Fig. 2 is avertical section of the pivoted swiveling-hook taken through line a: y,Fig. l.

Similar letters of reference denote corresponding parts in both flgures.

It is well known to teamsters and others who are in the habit of workingteams, that Occasions frequently arise when it is desirable to detachthe whiffletrees from the Wagon and connect them to a plow, or harrow,or the tongue of another wagon. With they ordinary construction of partsthis transfer involves the necessity of the employment of one or moreadditional clevises, which is found in practice to be inconvenient andobjectionable .for many reasons.

In order to obviate the difficulties incident to the employment ofsupplemental loose clevises, eveners have been constructed with a clevispermanently bolted thereto, said clevis having a hook swiveled in therear or closed end; but this construction, though operatingsatisfactorily when used for plowing and similar purposes, has beenfound to be attended with some difficulties when applied to a wagon, asfollows: It is apparent that the hole for the hammer-bolt must be farenough from the bolt which secures theclevis to the evener to permit thenecessary vibration of the evener, thus requiring a correspondingadditional length of tongue. Another objection is found in the fact thatthe evener, instead of resting -upon the broad ilat surface of thetongue, is

supported on the narrow leg of the clevis, and is therefore constantlysee-sawing, particularly in case the driver is in the habit of steppingon the end of the evener in getting on and off from his wagon; and,further, the

constant horizontal vibration upon the narrow leg of the clevis soonwears the wood away to such an extent as to materially weaken it at thevery point where it should be strongest. Again, as the end of thehammerstrap must be raised enough higher to allow for the increase inthe thickness, the thiokness of both legs of the clevis having beenadded to that of the evener, the strap is frequently tilted up at suchan inclination that the bolt cannot be inserted.

In order to remedy the difficulties above recited and to construct anevener which shall meet the various conditions required, I have madethis invention, which consists in combining a draft-hook with an evenerby means of a swiveled vibrating joint, and a rigid shank projectingfrom the rear edge of the evener bar, and arranged about centrallythereof, as will be hereinafter fully explained. In the drawing, Arepresents the evenerbar, which is provided with the usual hole A' forthe reception of the hammer-bolt. B B B is a draw-head, consisting of ahead and two legs or prongs, which pass through the central portion ofbar A and are secured by means of nuts b.. The head B is expanded into aiiat shank, b', extending rearward in the same horizontal plane withlegs B/ B. C is a socket-piece, pivoted to the shank b', at o. D is thedraft-hook, swiveled in socketpiece C by means of the' head d in suchmanner as to rotate freely therein. The construction and arrangement ofthe swivel and pivot joint lare clearly shown in Fig. 2.'

From an inspection of the drawing it will be readily seen that when myevener is used with a plow or for any similar purpose the swivel-jointat d and the pivot at c permit all of the movements that can be requiredof it; in fact, the pivot will allow greater range of vibration withoutundue strain upon the parts than could be provided for by anypracticable arrangement of clevis.

When the evener is to be applied to a wagon the ordinary hammer-strapand hammer-bolt can be used, as the hook D can be swung against the sideof the bar, and will be therefore entirely out of the way. The hook andconnecting device can be applied to an ordinary evener bar withoutmaking any change in the length of the tongue, in the shape or size ofeither the hammer-bolt or the swiveiing hook D, substantially asdehammer-strap, and without disturbing the scribed. i

proper support of the evener upon the pole. This specification signedand witnessed this f Having now described my invention, what 4th day ofJ une, 1872.

I cia-im as new, and desire to secure by Let- HOMER L. BOWEN.

The combina-tion of the evener-bar A, the G. W. FORD,

draw-head B B B', the socket-piece C, and W. L. QUIGLEY.

ters Patent, is- Witnesses: 1 I 4 i 1 4

